Hey Sharon, I see you have a greenhouse!!
In these Far North zones, you almost have to have one to grow some of these more interesting plants. Thumbs up!!

And Yes! the season went to Fast..................******

Yesterday
weeded all the front beds.
planted 400 fall bulbs
thinned and moved several perennials
dumped a few planters
lifted some of the smaller tender bulbs and put in storage.

I haven't got around to cleaning out the greenhouse yet. Dh has wood piled in the isle...whats with that..you have to step on it to walk through. lol Soooo much to do still.

Sierra

I've been so busy (I was going to say sn**** under, but...) keeping up with garden produce (125 jars of apple juice later), and then going back to work, fall chores haven't even started. I'm hoping to catch up on the rest of the weeding this weekend, and maybe get my garden shed repaired and start fixing window trim on the outside of the house. I got some new windows this summer, but haven't done the finish work yet. Greenhouse and garden shed cleanup will probably happen in November, like usual. Besides, I'm not ready to admit that the year is that far along. How about late summer chores instead?
Connie

Me too - i still have summer stuff to do! I finally got rid of some of the WS plants at an exchange yesteray so i wonèt have to worry about planting them (there goes my keyboard again. Whatès up with thatÃ). I still want to work on the edging of a couple of gardens and have done very little seed collecting.

On the plus side, i never got around to getting the patio furniture out this summer because the weather was so lousy, so i wonèt have to put it away! LOL

Ah yes, the list of chores is never ending and wow, that summer did go by really fast.

I've got most of my annuals-for-cutting already pulled, and the greenhouse and shed are cleaned with all the cut-flower stuff put away until next year. I'm trying to get a little more organized & ready for seed sowing time so I've got containers & flats neatly stacked and waiting. I don't want to bring them downstairs just yet as within the next week the basement grow room (Jan-May) which doubles as a cut flower room (June - Aug) will become the christmas craft room (Sep - Dec).

I think I'm on top of things. There's some weeds to pull....there's always some weeds to pull.

I quit smoking (YAY, ME) in June so I'm often not wanting to sit around. This has, in turn, kept the yard in pretty good order. Now if this darn tennis elbow would ever go away I'd probably get that much more done. Stupid elbow.

I started cutting down my Evans Cherry trees today. I'm taking them out, completely. Darn things sucker too much for my liking. I've got suckers coming up 8-10 feet away in other flower beds. Plus, no fruit again this year. I've had them for 8 years and have seen them fruit only once. Duds they are. I can definitely use the space for something else.

I'm also waiting for Vesey's and Lily Nook orders, and I think Costco bulbs either are or will be in the stores very soon. I forgot to do a peony order!!! I'll have to get that done this weekend.

This is my favourite time of year.

400 fall bulbs, what the heck did you plant Sierra! I should run to Walmart tomorrow and see if their fall bulbs are in yet. I want to plant lots of Daffs in the new shrub bed I made this year.

Pudge, congrats on quiting smoking!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!

Happy Fall Gardening everyone even thou its not officially Fall ;)

Sharon

Pssssss....Sharon....Costco....big bags of many kinds of daffs....get your friend to do a Costco run for you. Daffs don't do well for me here, I have better luck with tulips and the smaller type bulbs.

Costco
Muscari ÂAzureumÂ
Tulipa species 'Pearsian Pearl' and 'Lilac Wonder'
Crocus 'Romance'and 'Ruby Giant'
Chionodoxa Mixed
Tulipa 'Daydream'

Walmart
Hyacinthus ÂLady Derby Pink

Good for you Pudge!

Sierra

Oh wow Sierra, you're going to have one heck of a spring garden next year! We still don't have a Costco near by, so I went to Wally World today and picked up.

Narcissus 'Carlton' Daffodil (50)
Tulipa darwin hybrid 'Apeldoorn'Tulip (28)

I'm going to plant these in the bed that I extended out this year.

I have to find the bulb auger in the garage, that might take me an hour or two to find!

Sharon

I'm going to have to carve out time for fall clean-up and in general make plans to re-vamp my garden. I was so not happy with it this year and I identified some of the major problem areas so now to get the plans in motion!

**fingers crossed** I can find some time on Friday which will be my first day off in a long time and its already getting crammed full of 'other stuff'. I love my job but hate that I have very little time for my hobbies anymore!

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood ;)

Today I mowed/ weed-wack the acreage, hopefully this will be the last cut for the year. I also gave all the pots and containers a good watering, the Wave Petunias are still happily blooming.

I also extended a bit out from the shade bed and lots out from the front bed. I was going to transplant some overgrown roses out of there next spring but instead decided to expand the bed out wider and transplant the front perennials out more. First I edged with the waterhose and applied its first application of RoundUp. I'll add some aged manure/ compost and straw later this month.

I also planted some lilies that I got from PP.

Back out there to play with the dogs ;)

Sharon

Congrats Pudge! Keep it up, we're all pullin' for ya! It's too bad that your Evan's Cherry hasn't produced. Mine gave me a couple of ice cream pails full and I made some pie filling and canned a few jars. Mine do sucker a bit too, but it's out in the orchard and I just dig them out and pot them up for the farmer's market.

I'm just busy trying to keep up with apples. Norland is done, Goodland is just peeking and the September Ruby has branches weighted down to the ground. Corn is also in full swing and I've already processed about 100 cobs and probably have another 40 or 50 to go. Brenda and I are busy digging lily bulbs and dividing peonies for the farmer's market tomorrow morning. Not to mention that I've started work again at the beginning of this month, so things have been super crazy around here lately. So when you guys are all done your fall chores, ya'll come to my place and help me, ok??:)

I have been busy around here too. I am trying to get as many areas mulched with flax shives as I can before winter. It looks so good and next year I won't have to mow next to the trees because I had put Roundup down and mulched. No weedwacking then. yah!

Here is a few pictures of one of the areas I am almost finished mulching.

I have a long long row of 30 amur maple trees. This is a before picture, weeds and all...

Here is the during stage, with my backpack sprayer filled with Roundup and the quad with the trailer full of flax shives. I am also trimming off all the little suckers on the trees to clean them up also as I go along the row.

Here is the finished look. Much better!

Now, back to digging lily bulbs for tomorrow's market.

Brenda

Wow, Brenda,
If I got all that done in a day I'd be done, as in exhausted!
Wish I could get some flax shives though. Looks good!

Whenever you are in the Brandon area, drop by, I will give you some flax shives. I just had another semi load delivered here two weeks ago.

I have been working on the row of amur maples for a few weeks now, here and there, one load at a time. I will probably need to bring about 25 loads of flax to do the whole row. I have done about 18 already.

Brenda

Thanks for the offer, Brenda. I'm seldom in the Brandon area though. But if I'm ever around, I sure would like to see your garden!
I misread your post and thought you'd accomplished that job in one day. It made me feel totally inadequate, lol.
I hope your bulb sale is successful.

I did get (almost) caught up with the weeding this weekend, and started taking the old shoots out of the raspberries, but doing up produce is still slowing me down. I'll be done with apples this week, then just carrots, parsnips, potatoes and pumpkins left. Of course the weather is a lot chillier this week than last, but it is officially fall now. Laurie, my oldest Evans cherry tree has done very well the last couple of years - 9 ice cream pails last year, and 8 this year. Yum. It does have one sucker that I've let grow, so I'll have 3 trees when that one starts producing.

Connie

I made my sweet relish this morning and have a crate of ripe tomatoes ready to do something with now. Probably will get them made into raw juice tonight and then tomorrow or the next day make some spaghetti sauce. Corn I am doing also...froze lots of homemade creamed corn already.

I made some grape juice last night and will have to let it sit for at least 3 days before we can try it and know whether we want to have more made or not. There is lots and lots of grapes out there this year. What does everyone else do with their grapes? Any recipes??

The potatoes, carrots and beets are still in the garden but the garlic is out, drying and will be planted back into the garden in a few weeks just before freezeup.

As far as fall chores, I have been spending the day placing pots of perennials, I purchased all spring and summer, on the top of the ground in an area that is bare and ready to plant. There are enough pots on the ground that you can now see the outline of a winding path. Because of the deer and the frequency of their nibbling in that corner of the perennial bed, I have been choosing my deer 'resistant' plants to place in the one corner. Perennials like peonies, irises of all kinds, gallardia, salvia, veronica, bellflowers, with a few sempervivum here and there (even though apparently they do like these perennials). Daylilies that have been mislabelled and ones that I paid very little for are also being used. That way, if the daylily blooms and the flower gets eaten, so be it.

Feels good to have the majority of the perennials I bought out on the flowerbeds. Now, to plant them in, mulch with flax, water and record in my book where they are in the yard.

Marie, if you are ever in the Brandon area, give Laurie or I a call or an email, we are always up to having tours.

Brenda

Here it is Oct 29 and +18C. I put in a couple of days in the garden and got about 50% cut down so that it is not so overwhelming come next spring. A couple of years ago I left everything including pots/containers for a spring cleanup, I'll never do that again, it was so much work and my poor back didn't appreciate it either.

Just waiting for the ground to freeze up so that I can cover some border-zone roses and my Itoh peonies and I'm done for the year.

It feels good to get it done. Now to go soak in the bathtub and have DH to order pizza tonight. LOL

Happy Halloween,
Sharon

So happy to hear everyone's success this year. As for the chores I still have lettuce and chard in the greenhouse so I guess that one will be put off for awhile longer. I now have high hopes for my two apple trees (one was put in five years ago when my son was born and the other two years. Did finally get some but enough to make juice I can hardly wait) And this year I added Evan's cherries one small tree and a larger one, planted for my daughter birth, along with and small passion and cupid, just because. I'm still not willing to give up the growing season, the fall cleanup might have to wait until spring. Have a great day and enjoy the weather while it lasts.

It does feels good to get it all done, eh Sharon. I feel the same as you about getting lots of stuff cut down in the fall. The nicer the fall, the more I get chopped down. However I'm getting to the point where I don't think I can manufacture any more excuses to play outside.
I'm waiting now for the ground to freeze so I can mulch a few things or I guess I could add to my lasagna bed.

As usual i still have a lot to do. Today would have been a perfect day to play outside - well, almost perfect! - and tomorrow is supposed to be better. Unfortunately, real life gets in the way - funeral of a family friend today and back to work tomorrow. It would be nice if these great fall days would come on the weekends! :)

I still have a few more tomatoes to do up, but I'm doing a roasted tomato sauce, so it's pretty easy. Real life keeps getting in my way too. I had three days off last weekend, but we ended up shipping out most of our calves, and my FIL has been in hospital for the last month, so that takes a big chunk out of the weekend. Same things planned for this weekend - more calves, another trip to Red Deer to the hospital, our youngest DS has a volleyball tournament, etc. I do have the annuals and flower pots cleaned out, grass is cut and I've checked the roof, resealed vents and windows, and cleaned gutters. I just need to finish watering in the trees and perennials, mowing the perennial beds, and mulching. Of course, if the weather stays good, there's always pruning and such.
Connie

Nice to read that I am not the only one with a life other than the one in the garden! Still have tons to do before the freeze up and/or the white stuff. I promised myself to have everything taken care of with this extended warm weather we have been experiencing. Huh! But....the good part is that the kids had a great Halloween at my house cause I decorated the yard with total enthusiasm, gave out lots of candy, dressed up myself, my neighbour and even the dogs! One of my favorite distractions in the fall!
And, as real life would have it, my Angel gave birth to five beautiful, healthy, colorful sheltie puppies early Sunday morning! I like those distractions!
I guess I will be finishing the yard work in the cold.
And decorating my trees for Christmas!

Virginia and the sheltie pack

We've had a great fall as well, and as of yesterday, i'm pretty much caught up with what i want to do this fall - except for the rest of the raking, that is. Once the ground freezes, i'll be snugging up the roses in their cardboard boxes filled with leaves, and i guess there's still the cage around the dwarf Alberta spruce, but it's not an urgent thing. The weather is supposed to turn by the weekend, but this long fall will help shorten the winter. Mind you, i wouldn't complain if it went on for another two weeks, but let's not be greedy! LOL

Our forecast is calling for cooler weather, with rain/s*** showers Tuesday and Wednesday, but it looks like it could be okay by the weekend. I finished my watering this weekend, got the outside trim done around my patio door, and we shipped (almost) the last of the calves on Sunday. My oldest DS was home for the weekend - start of hunting season, so I had to take time to visit with him a bit. If I can get my perennial beds mowed and mulched next weekend, and put away my hoses, I'll be doing pretty good, and if it's warm enough for outside to be any fun, I'll muck around with some window washing, pruning, and other projects. We have a four day weekend, with Monday as a lieu day for parent-teacher interviews, and Tuesday being Remembrance Day, so I'm hoping to get a lot done.
Connie

Cold weather is on the way -17c so i finished up picking the cherry tomatoes, oxheart tomatoes and green peppers. I got a beer flat box full of green and ripe ones off the two plants and 4 not bad size peppers + a bunch of 2" pepper balls. Then it took two 50 liter dirt bags to hold the plants.Now I just got to move about a cord and half of fire wood, then I'll be set for winter